A Breach in Time is Like the Speed of Light
by Ruby-Blade-Princess
Summary: Rallen: His team goes on a mission for Professor Kate to find her lost friend, but finds someone he knew and a mystery. Kate: She never gave up hope that her friend was alive. Her Friend:Never expected to wake up 13 years later to find herself still 21.
1. Chapter 1: Thirteen Years Ago

**I realized there weren't many fanfics for Spectrobes up…so I'll try my best to add to the numbers. The only problem is, I only have the first game. I'm trying to get the second game, but it's a little hard to order right now. The setting currently is going to be during the time in between the first and second game. Once I get the second game, I'm weaving this plotline into the game's plotline. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Spectrobes!**

[Thirteen years ago…]

Every alarm was sounding in the cruiser. The emergency escape system was damaged. She had no way out.

She knew that there was a chance the mission would fail, yet she volunteered anyway. No one else would; many believed it would fail, and unlike her, they had a lot to lose if the mission failed. The problem was, this mission really _is_ failing, and she's in the middle of it. She sighed as the flashing lights reminded her constantly of what was about to happen. The thrusters were broken and the controls were jammed. The cruiser was about to fall apart.

Her mind flashed back to the conversation with the commander two days before departure:

"You didn't have to volunteer for this mission, officer."

"Commander Grant, if I didn't volunteer, who would?"

"Why are you so determined to go on this mission? You are so young, only twenty. You may be the best flight specialist we have, but three years of experience…do you honestly believe it to be enough?"

"Commander, I understand that you wouldn't want to risk the life of your best flying officer here…" She smirked, "But how many other flight specialists do you have that _does not_ have anything left to lose? And I turn twenty-one in three days, sir."

"Officer, we all know about you situation. But just because you don't have a family anymore doesn't mean you can throw your life away! With that mentality of yours, thinking that your existence is something you can throw away like that, even if it _is_ for an important mission—"

"Someone has to go. If the mission fails, someone will die. "

"You realize we were planning on sending a team, right?"

"Yes, but now that I'm in it, you will only be sending me. No one else's life will be risked. I do not want to see anymore children devastated by the loss of their parents anymore. Mine died for an equally dangerous mission. It's better for me to go, for I have no one…"

"Your friend will still need you."

"We all have connections…but I'm talking about families."

He could do nothing but sigh. The girl was too stubborn to be talked out of it. She was the best for the job, but the fact that she may end up like her parents troubled him. "You are certainly following their footsteps to greatness, but I hope that you, unlike them, will not obtain it through death…"

Now, in the broken cruiser, she laughed to herself. Her ship will soon crash into the outer-most planet of the star system. Their technology still failed to take them far enough.

She glanced to the right at the empty co-pilot's seat. A twang of guilt pierced her heart. She had left it empty for many reasons. Any male partner she had did not know how to act properly, and every female decided to quit for they couldn't stand the thrills she enjoyed. She also left it empty because she promised someone that if he could reach his goal to join the NPP, then she will congratulate him by giving him that seat beside her. The kid was seven-years-old and ambitious. She admired that, but now everything seemed smashed to pieces. She didn't tell the child what her mission was. How would he react when he hears the news that she died?

Her friend who worked for the museum became shocked to hear that she had taken the mission.

"What if you die on that mission? What about me? We both aimed for our goals together…how would it be if one of us were dead?"

"Kate, Kate…" She tsked at her friend. "You just continue to aim to be the professor you always wanted to be, and leave it to me to shoot for the stars."

"Shoot for the stars…even if you aim to shoot for the stars and aim to be the best female pilot…but, look at you! You're already the best! Is it not enough for you?"

"No, what I have so far is more than enough…"

"Really? Yet you still do things solo. Let me guess, you rejected every potential partner, didn't you? Or are you going to take that mysterious partner of yours with you? And just who is this person anyway?"

"Kate…I told you before that he's not my partner…"

"And he's not from the NPP! Spill it, girl!"

"Goodness! Kate, it's just a little kid who snuck on my ship!"

As the memory faded, she inspected the flashing warning signals again. It looks like her ship wouldn't even last to crash. It might as well fall apart on her in the middle of space. She sighed and took from her storage system a small wooden badge, hand carved by the same kid who grinned at her before she left: "When you come back from whatever mission that is, let's bake some cookies!"

She clenched the shield in one hand as she struck the communications button with the other.

--------------------

At the headquarters, right after their last transmission with the pilot of the Future Star Ship, after they all heard the tearing sound from the transmission and watched the screen change into nothing but white and grey, Commander Grant let out a long breath. "We've lost one of our best officers today…one that believed she had nothing left to lose…She walked the same path as her parents…"

The 22 officers who knew the pilot stood silent, reflecting on the many things they probably _shouldn't_ have done to her to earn her scolding. Kate cried for her friend, but couldn't take it in. _There's no way she could have died…_She denied it. _I won't accept that! I won't accept it until I see her dead body before me! I will find her, I must find a way to find her again…_

**Second chapter will be up whenever I get computer rights again. Consider this to be a little prologue and background info on the OC. (Oh, and I'm not a big fan of JeenaXRallen…this might turn out to be one of those XOC kind of thing…it depends on whether or not the second game can change my mind about that. **


	2. Chapter 2: Memorial Stone

**I decided to set the characteristics for the OC today…but I was too lazy to rack my brain for them. I wrote down a list of colors and numbered them…then told my calculator to pick random numbers between 1 and 12. I ended up with a combination of black hair and red eyes…which was kind of funny. I couldn't resist the urge to name her after my favorite gemstone because of the eyes. **

**Also, I don't think Rallen or Jeena's age was mentioned anywhere in the game…So my estimate is that they're both twenty.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Spectrobes.**

[Present Day...]

"Rallen! Stop hanging around the food court and hurry up and get over here!" Jeena called out to her partner.

"Hold on!" The officer hastily grabbed the bag of cookies he had just bought and joined her as they headed off to the park.

"We're already late, so if Commander Grant penalizes us, it would be your fault!" Jeena scolded.

"Relax, it isn't anything _that_ important." Rallen popped a cookie into his mouth. "Want one?" He offered.

"Ugh." She pushed it away. "_You_ seem to know a lot about what's going on, don't you? Why don't you let me in on why we're being called to the park?"

"There's a memorial stone there." He replied bluntly.

"_And?_"

"What else? Every year on this day a certain group of people goes there to offer stuff for the pilot who died on the Future Star mission thirteen years ago."

"Future Star…That sounds familiar, but I was only seven that time. What was the mission about?"

Rallen didn't get a chance to reply. They stopped at few yards away from the memorial site and watched the group of people there. Commander Grant had a small cruiser model in his hand, one made of a clear material. The other twenty-two people were older pilots or technicians, two which Jeena recognized as her teachers at the academy she graduated from. Some were familiar faces she had seen in the hallways of the NPP Headquarters. Out of the twenty-two, she counted eighteen men who had flowers to offer and four women with some sort of small gift tied up with red satin ribbons. To the side, she saw Professor Kate with a small box in her hand. Wanting to understand what was going on, she whispered to Rallen: "Let's go up closer and have a look."

Her partner shrugged. He sealed the bag of cookies and followed Jeena.

"Commander Grant, you requested our presence?" Jeena asked as they arrived by him and Professor Kate.

"Hmm? Oh, yes. Actually, Professor Kate has a request after this little memorial service here." He nodded at the stone. It was polished obsidian with intricate carvings: "In memory of Ruby Hoshi, the pilot who volunteered for the fatal Future Star mission." There was also a quote engraved underneath the words, which Jeena read out loud: "Leave it to me to shoot for the stars…" She pondered about that for a second. Professor Kate spoke up: "That was her favorite saying. I suppose you could say that was her motto too. It hung around her lips a lot…"

"Shoot for the stars…how far did she ever intend to go?" Rallen mumbled to no one in particular. They watched as each person placed down the item they brought. Professor Kate went last. She sighed after leaving the box containing a shooting star pin. One of the officers spoke up: "As usual, our twenty-fifth mystery person isn't here."

"Tim, you know very well that he never shows up until we all leave." The Commander sighed.

"Yeah, but some of us really want to know who he is!"

"That's enough now, Tim. We all should respect other's privacy. If he does not wish to show himself, then let him be. Go off now, all of you. We're done here. Rallen, Jeena, stay with Professor Kate. She needs help from you two to complete a task. I shall be off on my way back to my office now." Commander Grant turned and left as the others dispersed.

"…" Professor Kate glanced at the memorial stone again before she turned to the two officers beside her. "Rallen, Jeena, how much of the Future Star mission do you know or remember of?"

Jeena shook her head. Rallen, however, had the answer to the question: "It was a mission thirteen years ago to try and reach the two outermost planets."

"Anything else?"

He hesitated, then replied: "No."

Professor Kate nodded. "The pilot was a great friend of mine…the day she died was supposed to be her twenty-first birthday…" She sighed. "I wish to receive your team's help to find the wreckage of the Future Star Ship."

"Huh?" Rallen and Jeena looked at each other.

"I understand the confusion. But I believe much of the wreckage was pulled in by Himuro's gravity. I wish to find out exactly what happened…You are the only ones with the capability to reach that planet with the Ancient Ship."

"So, we're going on an excavation trip to Himuro?" Jeena asked. Before she could get an answer though, Rallen cut in: "Sounds like a plan. No problem, Professor. We'll help you."

"Thank you Rallen. I'll go and load some of my radar equipment onto the ship…if you wouldn't mind?"

"Go ahead. Jeena? Could you show her where we docked?"

"But, Rallen, where are you going?" His partner gave him a skeptic look.

"I have to do something here quickly. Don't worry, I'll be there when we leave."

"Fine, don't be late!" She reminded him and proceeded to lead Kate to the ship.

He watched them leave and turn out of the park, out of sight. When he was sure no one else was around, he took out a ruby mineral from his prizmod. Along with the bag of cookies he had bought, he left both of the items at the memorial stone. "Happy birthday, Ruby. I'll never forget the day you took me on my first flight into space…even if it was because I snuck onto your cruiser in the first place…"

**Ok, that's chapter two. I don't know when I'll be getting the second game, but it had better be soon. If I remember correctly, there's a three month period of peace in between the two game timelines, right? I'll be filling in stuff for that until I can get the second game…for now, I'll watch walkthroughs…which isn't much help for me. I'd prefer first had experience. **

**Read and review please…constructive criticism is welcome, but flames are not. Fire makes a cruiser crash, and I don't feel like crashing. Onward to chapter three! (Provided that I don't crash along the way.)**


	3. Chapter 3: Questions Unanswered

**Sorry for taking longer than expected for the update. I had to write the draft out first…but didn't get much time to do so because school got it the way…and I had another story to work on. Do enjoy this though. **

**Also, thank you Lady Kiara for the review. I don't update as often without reviews, so I hope more people will read and review. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Spectrobes. **

[Planet Himuro]

The drill hummed as Rallen turned it on.

"The radar detects it about twenty-eight feet below the ground." Kate read the data displayed on the screen.

"No wonder you brought equipment. The prizmod's equipment won't reach that far." Aldous noted. "But twenty-eight feet of ice and rock is still pretty deep."

"This is top-notch equipment for large-scale excavations though. We should be fine." Jeena surveyed the equipment.

"Alright! The sooner we start, the sooner we'll get done! Iku ze!" He proceeded to break the ice. The noise vibrated through their head. Jeena clamped her hands over her ears, and Komairu leapt to Aldous as he kept the spectrobe's curly ears under his hands.

"Oh my…" Kate wished she had thought of earplugs.

Rallen stopped the drill. "Owe…my eardrums…"

"Maybe we shouldn't rush into things just yet…" Kate sighed.

"Don't count on him to _not_ rush into anything." Jeena mumbled.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Rallen protested.

Unfortunately, they had to deal with the noise. Some five hours later through the slow and painfully loud excavation process, they managed to uncover half of what showed up on Kate's radar: sheets of metal, parts of a right wing and remnants of the thrusters.

"I hope the museum has enough space for all this." Rallen joked as he held up a piece of metal. "This just might make up for the keystone we, uh, borrowed…"

Kate went through the wreckage, searching for any proof of her friend's existence…searching for proof that she may still be alive, or at least find her dead body…

Komairu pranced about and sniffed at the broken up ground. Suddenly, he noticed a fossil nearby, one he couldn't detect earlier for it was buried far too deep under the ice. He trotted over to his master and began to nudge his feet.

"Huh? What is it, Komairu? Did you find something?" Rallen followed his little pink Spectrobe out to the side of the wreckage. The Spectrobe indicated at something in the ice.

"Something here? Well, let's dig it up and see what you found." He opened up the prizmod and too the stylus tool into his hand. The scanner gave him a 3-D view of the fossil.

"Funny, it looks like a cocoon…" He began to drill away the surrounding ice. In no time, he was done. As he glanced up at the fossil from his prizmod, he gasped: "Whoa! This fossil is about as big as me!"

"Rallen, what's wrong?" Jeena came up behind him after hearing his exclamation.

"Jeena, LOOK at this thing!" He pushed her in front of him so she could get a better view of the fossil.

"Is this even a Spectrobe?" She walked up to it. "It looks like a …cocoon…"

"I don't know what it is, but I'll ask Aldous—"

"Ask me about what?" The bearded man joined the group as Kate followed.

"Hmm…looks like we've found something new here…" Aldous stroked his beard. "I would suggest storing it and analyzing it at the ship later."

Rallen did as suggested and stored the fossil into the prizmod. It's amazing how technology can let you carry a number of large objects without worry now.

---------------

[Later, back on the ship…]

They turned in back to the ship for a rest. Because Himuro did not turn on its own axis and was a magnify-glass planet, it remained bright without ever having a side of darkness. Thus, they had to plan things out without accounting for "daytime" and "nighttime." The clock displayed "7:30 pm."

As for the fossil they found…Rallen placed it into the revival chamber of the lab system to run a few scans before attempting an awakening. The screen displayed that it was a Spectrobe, but they didn't know exactly what it was.

"I suppose we'll just have to wake it up to find out then." Jenna recommended.

"Let's give it a try." Rallen punched a few things into the keyboard and spoke into the lab system: "Wake up."

Nothing happened.

"Come on…wake up." He tried a commanding tone. Still no reaction.

"Wake up." He tried again, with a gentler tone this time. He could've sworn he saw a slight flash of light.

"Wake up, please." He didn't know if it was the tone or the word "please" that did the trick, but there was a flash and the fossil was no longer stone.

"It still looks like a cocoon…but a cocoon of feathers." Jeena studied the mysterious Spectrobe.

"Maybe we should leave it in the incubator for a while." Rallen began the transfer, but as he looked up on the data to see which environment worked best, he found something shocking: The Spectrobe had corona, flash, and aurora properties. Not knowing which one was best, he placed it in a neutral environment. "I never knew a Spectrobe could have more than one property."

"But look at the feathers. They look glossy enough to be transparent, and there are colors of red-orange, yellow-green and blue fading in and out." Jenna traced the outline of the cocoon with her finger.

"Let's check back on it later. It's almost time for the break to end, so we have to get back to drilling now." He left the lab system on as he they left the room.

----------------

[…]

_Where is this…? Last time I checked, I didn't believe in heaven…so is this heaven?_

Memories…the flashing signals, the transmission that she was in the middle of…and then the tearing of metal. She braced herself and waited for the painful feeling of the vacuum of space to tear her to pieces, but it did not come. She felt very light, as if she were a feather. Voices filled her mind: _Sleep dear one, sleep…and when you wake, you will be one of us. Come to the sweet embrace of the light…_

And she did what the voice bid her to. She allowed her mind to drift.

And now, her eyes suddenly snapped open. Everything around her was luminescent. She felt encased in something…and just as she thought it felt a little stuffy, the encasing opened, and she found herself levitating two feet from the ground. As the encasing opened completely, she landed gently on the flooring, where she found that her encasing was wings…wings attached to her own back.

Startled, she scanned the room. Weird tiles and backdrops surrounded the place, and a clock displayed "10:48." It reminded her of the inside of a computer. Her hand involuntarily squeezed the item in her hand. She looked down at it. It was the small wooden shield still in her palm. Her uniform was still intact. She pinched herself, and found that she felt very much alive. It defied logic.

Ruby Hoshi could not find the answers to her questions: Where was she and why was she still alive?

**Alright, read and review please! **


	4. Chapter 4: Reunion?

**Hello! Sorry for the long wait…I've been bogged by school, choir, volunteer work, and most of all, ACTs…but on the flip side, I got the second Spectrobes game, and I've finished it! But of course, that plot is still a few chapters away. **

** Anyhow, I'm glad there was a review of some sort. I often forget to update…but I **_**do**_** check my email everyday unless parents get in the way…so review! I'll receive it in my email and I'll remember to update!**

** Disclaimer: I do not own Spectrobes.**

[In the lab system…]

She looked around at the room as she stored her treasured shield, going through all possibilities and clues as to what may have happened, what the place was, and what to do next. Calmly, she decided that her first move should be to explore her surroundings while exercising her wings, wondering if they'd work.

Surely enough, flight came naturally to her. It seemed to make sense, since she was an outstanding pilot, but a small part of her wondered if these wings were a part of her since the very beginning, and that her piloting skills came naturally because of these wings. But that didn't add up to her.

After a few rounds in the cubical room, she noticed a screen-like doorway that led to a cargo room—one she recognized as a cargo room to a cruiser. With a sharp turn, she dived through the screen, out of the computerized room and into the cargo area. She half expected to end up smacking into the screen like a bird though.

In every way, from the placement of facilities to the structure of the place, she was sure she was in a patrol cruiser. When she arrived in the cockpit, however, she realized a few features that were alien to her. It seemed like more technology has been added on.

Walking out of the cruiser, she was stumped by the scene of ruins. Stones in the ground seemed to feed different colored patterns of energy into the entire structure, and a green transport circle lay ahead of her. Walking onto it, she found herself out in icy cold air in a flash of light. The frozen landscape and broken ancient technology gave a lonely and silent impression…if not for the loud drilling noise coming from afar.

Looking back at her wings, she wondered if she could hide or retract them before meeting people…although hiding wings that big seemed physically impossible. But upon that thought, the translucent wings dissolved in a sparkle of light.

With no other option to choose, she headed off in the direction of the noise until she came to the edge of a slope. Certain that she'll find people and maybe answers down there, she jumped down…only to find someone down there. "Incoming!" She shouted. But that didn't do the trick.

---------------

[Excavation Site…]

Jeena wandered off to the edge of the site, trying to get rid of the ringing in her ears. Behind her the racket continued as Rallen and Aldous guided the machinery. Standing at the edge of the site did not lessen the amount of noise reaching her ears. The drilling sound loomed over the area, and she did not hear someone suddenly shout "Incoming!" while sliding down the slope. The two collided.

The stranger quickly got onto her feet as Jeena looked up at her, dazed. She was tall and slender with eyes that flashed like ruby minerals. Her bangs were messy, but the rest of her long black hair was silk smooth. Two thin braids from behind her ears were decorated with a red ceramic bead on each end. She dusted herself off and reached out a hand to Jeena. "Sorry about that…I should've checked to see if anyone was down there first…"

"Oh, it's ok." _Being rammed into once in a while isn't so bad if compared to Rallen's death-inducing air stunts._ She thought.

"Umm…excuse me, but are you perhaps the pilot of the ship back there?" The red-eyed woman pointed at the Ancient Ship in the sky, dozens of feet from the ground.

"Well, I'm not really the pilot, but that ship belongs to my team."

"Oh, ok, umm..." she walked up to a piece of wrecked metal. "Where is this place?"

"The sixth planet Himuro…" Jeena suddenly realized that the only ones capable of reaching this planet were her team…how did this woman get here? And why did she wear an NPP uniform that looked like one from a little more than a decade ago.

"The sixth planet? THIS is the ice ball that they call a planet?" The stranger laughed. "Wow, I never imaged for this little ball of ice to look like an ancient civilization's been here before." She then brushed some snow off of the wrecked metal, revealing the Future Star emblem. "Hey! This is part of my wrecked ship! It looked like it's been buried for a decade though!" At that point, the drilling noise also stopped.

"Your ship? What do you mean? Who are you?" Jeena demanded. This was getting weird.

"Oh, sorry…I should explain, should I? I'm—"

"Jeena? Are you talking to someone—Whoa!" Rallen came to find her but stopped in between his sentence as he saw the stranger. "This...who…" He walked up to her. "Ruby? You're Ruby, aren't you? But, that can't be right…"

"What can't be right? Yes, my name is Ruby, but I don't recognize you…" She frowned.

"You're Ruby Hoshi? Yet you look the same even after thirteen years! Are you really her?"

"Didn't I just answer that? Yes I am, but excuse me…DID YOU JUST SAY THIRTEEN YEARS?"

Rallen took a step back at the sudden outburst. "Ok, you're defiantly Ruby…" He mumbled.

Ruby started examining the youth in front of her while going through the information she had learned so far. If thirteen years have really passed by, she would have to accept it. The state of her ship proved that time really went on without her. But if that was the case, she needed more answers. How did she sleep for so long? How did she end up on an unknown ship? And who is the young patrol officer in front of her? Thirteen years ago…he was probably a child back then…

Reddish-brown hair almost the color of orange with matching eyes…She knew only one boy with such features. "Ra—" His name never got to leave her tongue. Someone else squealed and tackled her from behind. "Ruby! Oh, Ruby, I knew it! I knew you'd still be alive!"

"Wha—Kate?" She glanced back with shock. And hugging her tightly was her childhood friend.

**Once again, I apologize for the slow update. ACTs…**

**Read and review please! And thank you for reminding me to update! It helps. **


	5. Chapter 5: A Few Mysteries

**Alright…next chapter! Thank you for sticking with me so far! I hope all of you will continue to enjoy this story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Spectrobes.**

"Kate—you're suffocating me!" _Why the hell do all friends try to suffocate each other?! _

"Oh, but Ruby, I knew you'd be alive! Even if thirteen years were humanely impossible to survive on this ice planet…" She let go.

"But I didn't exactly 'survive' on this ice ball for thirteen years. Oh gosh, this is weird…Kate, you look older…" She paused. "Oh, no! Don't take it _that_ way! I'm saying you look more mature than a twenty-one year old museum assistant!" She quickly corrected as to not hurt Kate's feelings. Kate laughed.

"I want to say that you haven't changed a bit, but it feels weird to say so because in truth, _you haven't change a bit_! What happened?"

"I was just trying to find out…" Ruby muttered.

"Oh, I should introduce you to the team helping me to excavate, uh…your ship…" Kate walked to Jeena first. "This young girl here is Jeena. She may not look like a fighter, but I've heard she made top marks in logic and deduction skills."

"Awe, Professor! You're flattering me." Jeena blushed a little, but was still a little surprised by Ruby's existence…not that it was a bad thing, but it was quite hard to believe.

"Professor now, huh? Congrats, Kate!" Ruby grinned. "Sorry I wasn't there to celebrate with you." She then turned to Jeena. "Hello, I suppose I should give a proper greeting this time, one that doesn't involve ramming into you because I was careless." She smiled. "I'm Ruby Hoshi, top flight specialist…or, once was. I'm not sure if I'm still part of the NPP after being gone for so long…"

"Oh, well, I'm sure Commander Grant would love to have you back on patrol…" Jeena wasn't too sure, but Commander Grant should be happy to have someone as great as Ruby back. But a small part of her wondered: was this flight specialist also one for stunts? It seemed highly likely that Ruby had a love for thrills…and if she hung around, that would equal dangerous thrills times two. As if Rallen weren't enough to bear with…

"Hmm? Grant's still commander? Wow." Ruby gave a whistle…highly unladylike.

"Awe, don't worry about it now. Here now, this is Aldous…" Kate indicated at the bearded man who had arrived during Kate's "suffocation" of Ruby. "Believe it or not, he's actually from a distant star system!"

"For real? He had the technology to come here?" Ruby stared. Aldous gave a little cough.

"Er-hm…well, my ship is in shambles now, so I suppose there wouldn't be much research material for you if you wanted it." He apologized.

"Ah, well…" Kate continued her introductions. "This here is the pilot of our ship! I think you'll have no trouble getting along with him—" That line was actually a little implied joke from Kate, because Ruby had some intensely cold regards for most of the other male pilots she'd worked with. She didn't wait for Kate to finish though. She took a quick three strides forward and the next thing they all knew, she had him in a headlock and began to ruffle his hair playfully.

"My my, I bet the first time you got to get in the pilot's seat of a cruiser you were excited, weren't you! I hope you didn't crash anything!"

"Ack! Ruby! Ok, ok! You can stop it now!" He laughed and protested.

"Hmm? What's that? I didn't hear you." She joked.

"Come on, please, stop!" Rallen tried to get free. He could've easily tried to throw her on her back, but flashing back to when he was little and helpless against her, he totally forgot that he could free himself now. But he did not forget how hard she was to reason with, so he was surprised when there was a slight pause and she released him.

"That was weird…I could've sworn I heard you command echo in my head." She muttered. But the comment was currently disregarded by everyone else.

"Ruby, do you actually know him?" Kate asked.

"I suppose I could say yes…from thirteen years ago when he was still a kid! But, umm…" She stopped to think for a second. "Uh, Kate…do I really still look the same? You know, age wise?"

Her friend tilted her head and inspected her. "In every way, you still look twenty-one…"

There was a moment of awkward silence. Ruby looked contemplative, trying to accept a concept in her mind.

"So…that means we're the same age now?" She finally asked Rallen.

He didn't reply, and there wasn't a need for one.

"Oh, well, go back to excavating then. I need to think." Ruby turned and with a few leaps went to the top of the wreckage. There, she sat and sorted through her situation as the others shrugged and went back to work. Jeena looked back before going back to the dig sight. Some things didn't make sense, and she felt as if there were a lot of mysteries ahead.

Some five minutes later, a little pink creature suddenly leapt onto Ruby's lap.

"Whoa! What are you?" She held up the creature. "A new breed of dog or something?"

The creature huffed. _Not dog. Spectrobe._

By this time, Ruby felt like she'd encountered enough illogical stuff and wasn't surprised anymore that she could understand the weird thing.

"Spectrobe? You don't look like a fossil to me." She snorted.

_Not fossil. Awakened fossil. Name Komairu. _

"Komairu? Well, you look like a livened version of a komapod…"

_Was fossil, not anymore._

"Ok, I think we've established that already. What do you want?"

The Spectrobe left. A minute later, bit came back with a Corona A mineral. It dropped the crescent shaped mineral in her hand.

_Food._ It replied and trotted off, leaving Ruby to stare down at the mineral.

"Food? Am I supposed to eat a rock?"

But the flashing red mineral in her hand looked so appetizing to her. She didn't even notice her nails growing into razor-sharp claws as she sliced/broke off a piece. The mineral melted in her mouth like ice, but warm. It tasted like cherry candy…or at least that's the human tasted it reminded her of. She felt like she tasted is from a different perspective. Before she knew it, she'd finished the mineral.

_Something weird is going on here…I wake up with wings and now I'm eating rocks…What's happening? _

**Hmm…we haven't had a scene shift in a while. Don't worry, the scene will shift soon. Read and review please! **


	6. Chapter 6: En Route of Returning

**Ugh! Once again, I lagged on the update. And once again, sorry for the big time gap. (But no, I won't leave the gap as long as thirteen years, hah-hah.) ACT testing fried my brain and I had a million essays to write. But here's the next chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Spectrobes. **

The excavation took _forever_. Jeena took Ruby back to the ship, and the dark-haired girl became fascinated at the new equipment. She spent a lot of time asking Jeena about all the controls, and they talked about the difference between the technologies back then.

Jeena decided to put off the questioning of how Ruby survived until later when everybody was around. She didn't want to make her repeat her story twice…if there was even a story to begin with.

She did, however, find out a lot about the pilot. Through their conversation, she got to learn that the girl was adopted. Ruby was found as a toddler out alone on the planet Daichi. Her adopted parents were a team of well-known officers. Sadly, they died during a chase for an interplanetary gang that hijacked three cruisers and wreaked chaos in between planets of trade. The girl was only twelve.

Conversation made time seem to go faster. Once the excavating was done, they prepared for takeoff. It didn't take long after Rallen set the cruiser to auto-pilot that Kate asked the question most had been wondering: "Ruby, how did you survive?"

She sighed and answered: "I'm trying to figure that out. I really don't know what happened, and one thing that seems misplaced about my situation is that I woke up in the cargo area of this ship. To be more exact, I found myself in some sort of lab system…"

Rallen and Jeena gasped. Both of them ran to the elevator and into the cargo room. Confused, the rest of them followed. They arrived at the lab system with Rallen tapping different keys on the control panel. Jeena turned to Ruby after a few minutes of silence. "I think I've found out what happened. You were fossilized…"

The statement caught Ruby by surprise. She didn't understand until Aldous explained to her about the fossilized Spectrobes and the technology in the lab system that can revive them. "The interesting thing about this situation though, is that the lab can only revive Spectrobe fossils. How it came to revive a human, I cannot say." He mused.

Ruby gave the situation some thought. "Human…you say…" She muttered. With a simple thought, her wings materialized again, catching everyone off guard. "I woke up with _these_ encasing me. So, we know how I survived, but the new question is: _What in the name of Nanairo am I?_"

"There might've been some change in—" Jeena didn't get to finish her sentence. The Ancient Ship shook as it hit something hard.

"RALLEN! DID YOU SET THE COURSE THROUGH THE ASTEROIDS AGAIN?" Jeena yelled. Ruby didn't stay behind to listen to an argument though. She half ran half flew down to the cockpit and leapt into the pilot's seat as the ship took more blows from the floating chunks of rock. Having learnt all the new controls from Jeena, she quickly took matters to hand as everyone else ran down to join her.

"Ugh…I told him to watch what course he sets—" Jeena grumbled, but Ruby cut her off short: "Sit down and get buckled up." She reached for a few switches, and looked back at Kate: "Hey, Kate. Remember back then when you tried to convince those girls that my flying wasn't that bad? Well, get some firsthand experience before you say otherwise next time." A grin came to her lips. "I miss this." She took the cruiser to a sharp dive as the next space rock came near.

"Oof!" Kate rammed into the back of Jeena's chair, slightly disoriented. Aldous clung tightly to one of the hand rails nearby.

Rallen, of course, acted like he was on a rollercoaster…

_Oh, great…_Jeena sighed as her stomach turned. _Of course…this is probably where Rallen learned all his flight techniques from…_the ship made another lurch as Ruby did a stunt Jeena recognized. _This means double the trouble…_But she did find one difference between the two: the moment the controls got into Ruby's hands, she did not take a single graze to the ship. As subtle were her turns, she took them through the obstacles without a single hit.

* * *

"What's wrong? Aren't you coming off the ship?" Kate asked.

Ruby stood hesitantly at the edge of the glowing green circle of the Ancient Ship. She'd docked the ship on Kollin, but she didn't seem to want to get off.

"It's been thirteen years. I don't know if it would be a good idea to suddenly show up again…" She bit her lower lip.

A soft "oh…" escaped from Kate's mouth. This was a hard situation to deal with.

"What's the difference between now and later? Sure, you can stay on the ship, but you can't hide your existence forever." Rallen shrugged.

"Try me." Ruby crossed her arms.

"Didn't I try your patience before already?"

They waited for her reply. She reflected upon the words. As a matter-of-fact, he'd tried her patience in many circumstances. One being the time he had begged her to take him on patrol with her, which hardly was the best choice. She was a woman who only stood by _reasonable_ decisions. And anyone who gave a thought to it could tell that trying to hide was not entirely reasonable. Unwillingly, she sighed and replied: "Fine. I'll go with you."

So, in a flash of green light, they were on the ground. Ruby looked left and right. "Well…I'm not surprised that the general floor plan looks the same…" She muttered.

Jeena suddenly took out a long cloak and placed it around Ruby with a loud _woosh_!

"What's this for?"

"Your old uniform kind of stands out…as if your eyes weren't enough to attract attention. You'd rather not have any of that until you see the commander, right?"

"You seem to think through everything."

"That's my job. After all, if _I_ don't think through everything, who would? You can't trust every impulsive judgment made by _him_." She laughed and poked Rallen, who scowled at her comment.

Ruby grinned. "Your team balances out then."

"Well, look at who's saying that. You really have little say about teams when you fly solo." Kate laughed. "But come, we still have things to do."

**Typing this was…relatively boring. But I think I'm getting close to how I want things to connect. Read and review please!**


	7. Chapter 7: A New Beginning

**I've fallen into the bad habit of waiting for someone to ask in order to update…But with the life I live, writing is hard. (Hey, this is the only story I've been updating because people actually reads it! That just shows how little time I have to bother about the others…)**

"Professor Kate, you're back! How did the trip turn out? You found what you wanted to find, I presume?" The commander greeted them as they entered his office.

"Oh, yes. But we've found more than just what I was looking for."

"Am I to get ready to hear a long report about some new fascinating phenomenon you've found?" He placed his elbows on his desk and brought his hands together, leaning forward slightly to hear what she had to say.

Kate opened her mouth, but was interrupted. "Wow…thirteen years and you haven't changed the interior decoration of you office? There's still hardly anything in here…except for the additional screens on the walls."

The commander raised an eyebrow. "Professor, what manner of a joke is this? I know you miss her, but bringing back a hologram wouldn't—"

"Hey, hey! I'm not a hologram!" Ruby walked briskly to his desk and swept up the crystal pyramid on the corner. Tossing it up and down in her right hand and releasing her grip on the cloak with her left hand, she revealed her old uniform. "Reporting back from my mission thirteen years late, sir. Sorry, I'm afraid the mission was a failure. But you're not losing one of your best pilots for good yet!" As if just to add more spice to the scene, she gave an arrogant grin, pretending as if thirteen years of disappearance was nothing.

Commander Grant went wide-eyed. From there on, explanations started.

* * *

[The next day…]

"All right! New uniform, new identification…information in the database refreshed…I'm ready for a new day!" Ruby spoke to no one in particular as she stretched and made her way down to the cafeteria for all the officers. She'd spent the night in temporary sleeping quarters after being told that her permanent quarters needed to be sorted out first…not that she cared. "The only problem now…is that teams are mandatory, which means I'll _have_ to find a partner now in missions and patrolling…sheesh…" She sighed. _And the second problem is that to most, I'm a stranger here, even though I used to be here, to them, I'm new…_

The first event that greeted her upon entering the cafeteria was a sudden pat on her back.

"Well, whaddaya know! The rumors _were_ true! You're still alive!"

Ruby recognized that voice, but her reaction wasn't shock. The first thing she did was to swipe around with a kick. "Get lost, Tim!" She sent him into the wall.

"Oof! As hostile as even, aren't ya?" Her previous partner (for no more than three days) grinned. "Well, you even still look the same!"

"I thought you understood the meaning of 'Get lost' but I guess I didn't beat it hard enough through that thick skull of yours."

"Awe, come on! Don't you—"

"Say one more word, and I'm sooo going to call you a pedophile. Thirteen years may have gone by in your mind, but to me, it was only a week ago that you tried to peek on me in the shower. Now _get lost_." She left with a sharp turn and proceeded to get her breakfast. Rallen and Jeena joined her.

"Ah…I take it that guy was a pervert since quite some time ago…That explains _everything_ now." Jeena laughed. "Not many women here like him all that much."

"If I remember correctly, he was the guy you kicked unconscious on the second day during patrol together because he tried to touch you, right?" Rallen recalled. "Now that I think about it, no wonder you were in an incredibly bad mood that day when you found me hiding in that crate of your ship for the fourth time…"

Jeena was slightly worried. _She…knocked that guy unconscious?_

"If _anyone_ tries to mess with me, they're in for a beating. Although, right now I'm supposed to be focused on thinking of a team…Commander Grant told me I have to chose one and stick with it this time…no more switching…" Ruby sighed. "I don't fancy choosing any of my past partners...Although there was one who was very skilled at mechanics and such, he absolutely could not keep up with my pace. It's not just my hasty nature…he could've gotten killed if he had ducked down a second too late for me to get a good shot at the criminal…"

She began to play with her food. Her copilot was…supposed to be Rallen, since she had promised. But that's unlikely now. He had his own team now. _Ah…about the topic of teams…_

"Rallen, I was told that you and Jeena have a different role now because of something to do with Spectrobes and Krawl…what exactly are Krawl?"

More explanations filled up the time. Ruby did some considering. "Ok, now that I have a better understanding of Spectrobes and Krawl, I guess I should ask another question. That machine in your cruiser is only for awakening Spectrobe fossils, right? Well, I was thinking last night: What if I'm some sort of alien? I mean, I have wings now, and that lab system de-fossilized me."

"After seeing things such as Spectrobes and Krawl, I wouldn't be too surprised if you were more than just human. But it seems a little farfetched." Jeena took a drink of her milk and continued. "But what doesn't make sense would be how you didn't show signs of being otherworldly before the Future Star mission."

"I've considered that too. But now that something like this has happened, I became concerned with something I thought was long forgotten. My past…after all, I've told you I was found on Daichi…"

"Hold up, I didn't hear anything about this. Daichi? That's the planet blanketed by aurora…" Rallen looked up from his food.

"Precisely. When my parents found me, they had no clue how a child got onto the planet. Oh, and let me add in the detail that they'd found me on Table Top Mountain after chasing down some idiots who would go up there. I can assure you by the time they got back to the cruiser they were exhausted and drained from the strain the aurora had placed on them. I had no memory of how I got there either, or of how long I've been up there."

"Are you implying you, uh…came from someplace other than the neighboring planets?" Jeena was skeptic, but her thoughts were broken by an incoming message from Commander Grant.

"Jeena, would you come up to my office please?"

"Right away, sir." Turning to the others, she said: "I don't know what he needs me for, but I'll be back soon. Maybe afterwards we can try and help figure out what those wings of yours are all about." With that, she left.

Ruby drained the rest of her orange juice. "Ok, now what?"

"I'm going to train." Rallen grinned.

"Right after eating?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah!"

"Jeena was right, you're reckless. You do realize you could end up damaging your health like that, right? But telling you no wouldn't work does it?"

He wasn't listening, actually. The officer already left the cafeteria.

"Hey, weren't you listening!" She ran after him. _Ugh, I'm sooo not going to be responsible when he ends up getting a really bad stomach ache…_

**I've decided not to try and wait that long before weaving this into the game plot line. **

**Anyhow, it may be a while before another update. My parents have been home more frequently lately when I'm off school…oh glory…**


	8. Chapter 8: Temporary Team

**Three words: Internship and Work. **

**That's all I'm going to say about why I didn't update. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Spectrobes…However, I will be getting Origins soon! (after, like how long since it came out?)**

"Alright, Rallen! Ready to train?"

"You know me! I was born ready!"

Ruby shook her head. "Tsk tsk." She muttered.

"What?" Rallen looked at her. Dave, on the other hand, smiled.

"Ah! Miss Ruby! Commander Grant has told me of your miraculous situation! It's good to have you back!"

"Thank you, sir. Would you mind if I take part in the training too then? I'm a little hesitant to believe that I'm in top shape…" She smiled softly.

"Now, now, Miss Ruby! You're not going to fool me with that false modesty! You want the droids, don't you?" The man chuckled. Ruby grinned.

"Mmm-hmm." The man turned to the field settings and began setting her custom field up. "I never deleted those settings, knowing how much you liked them…and who knows, maybe someone else would like to brave them someday…"

"You had a whole custom training regime to yourself?" Rallen looked shocked, which he really shouldn't have been.

"More like a thriller game, actually…I use it blow off steam sometimes too. I can assure you that I did double patrol a lot to make up for all the damaged droids. I burn up a lot of repair fees for them…"

"Am I supposed to be worried now?"

"The better question might've been if you were sure that you would like to join." She smirked, knowing full well what he really wanted to ask.

"Of course! I just need to get my equi—"

"GO!"

Ruby pulled him through the doors and the moment they stepped onto the tiles, they rose. Rallen fought for his balance. "Woah!"

"No equipment save for your hands and maybe a sword. Fall in the virtual water below and its game over. Are we clear?"

"Uh…Yes m'am!" He was still disoriented. Ruby already began moving from platform to platform. The platforms moved…but they also did something else. Before he knew it, the platform Rallen was standing on disappeared. He quickly grabbed onto the nearest one.

"Don't stay in one spot! The point of this simulation is to keep you moving! You have to be quick in judging where to go! Reflexes are important in flight, and you can't always stop when you want to!"

The droids arrived, and now beams were added to the scenario. New to the game, Rallen only lasted for seventeen minutes before he tipped over and fell into the virtual water. The simulation ended.

"Awe…no fun." Ruby smirked.

"I take it you can last longer?"

"Two hours and twenty-eight minutes being my best record. The course does get harder, after all. But I guess it was a little unfair of me to just drag you in."

"You know what, I'll stick with the flight simulator next time…"

They walked out of the training field. Dave used one of his robotic contraptions to adjust his goggles. "Well, Miss Ruby…I doubt you've lost touch with your skills at all."

Rallen's transmitter began to sound off. "Must be Jeena." He answered the call. "Hey Jeena. What is it, is it a new mission?"

Jeena rolled her eyes. "Sorry to disappoint. Nope."

Ruby walked up behind Rallen while laughing softly. She whispered something in his ear and he retorted: "What do you mean I haven't changed one bit!"

"Eh-hem…Anyhow…" Jeena continued. "Rallen, can you meet me at the docking area?"

"Huh, what for?"

"Just come here and you'll find out."

"Awe, come on! Why can't you just tell me?"

"If you want to know, then hurry. Oh, and Ruby, why don't you come along too? There may be some things you need to familiarize with.

"Hmm…sure…" She didn't really seem excited. Rallen ended the transmission

"Ok, Let's go!" He ran towards the door. Ruby shook her head and followed. Right out the door, Rallen nearly ran head-on into Aldous.

"Hey, Aldous! How's it going?" Rallen greeted.

"Fine, fine…tired." He yawned. He began explaining some of his research to Rallen. Komairu came out from behind Aldous and dropped another mineral by Ruby's side.

"Well…what do we have here. Why weren't you with Rallen this morning?" Ruby got down and petted the little Spectrobe.

_Prizmod being updated. Went with Aldous today instead. _It scratched an ear and continued: _This is Flash mineral._

"Huh?"

The Spectrobe spent some time explaining to her the different properties of minerals as she unconsciously began to nibble at the crescent-shaped mineral. Before she knew it, she finished it…and no one else really seemed to notice her weird traits…yet.

[at the docks]

Jeena felt like it was forever before the two arrived.

"What took you guys so long?"

"Sorry, I got a little hung up." Rallen grinned a little as he apologized. Ruby placed Komairu down on the ground and looked at the large object behind Jeena while she talked to Rallen.

"So, Jeena, what did you need me here for."

"Well, why don't you look behind me and see for yourself!" She smiled. Jeena knows that Rallen was going to be excited for this.

"Whoa! Is that the newest patrol cruiser model that everyone's been talking about?" he ran to the side to get a better look at the whole thing. Ruby was already there, looking at the cruiser.

"Yep. It was just deployed today. Commander Grant had to pull a lot of strings to get the newest one for us. You can be really hard on cruisers, you know…our old one was quite beat up…"

"Hmm…" Jeena noticed that Ruby was silent the whole time…and so far, that "hmm" was the only thing she's uttered.

"Oh, well…Ruby?"

"Yes?" The officer looked at Jeena.

"Well, Commander Grant also spoke to me about your team issue…and I came up with a temporary solution for you. Since we're still curious about those wings and how you became fossilized…Commander Grant has decided that you should come with us and be part of our team for now. We've deducted that your new traits are probably related to Spectrobes, and since Rallen and I are the official team to deal with this, we thought it would be wise to keep you on this team instead of putting you with a new and unfamiliar team. I can keep you up-to-date with the few changes in technology for the years you missed out on and…" Jeena tried to stifle some laughter. "And Commander Grant was hoping that you could keep an eye on Rallen and actually teach him how to fly without hitting anything. I've looked through your flight records. They're quite amazing! I've heard that you do flight stunts too…but you've never once had an accident or as much as a graze on your cruisers! You only switched cruisers when there needs to be an upgrade, right? Well, Rallen here went through an all-time record high of five in one year once!"

"Hey!" The officer protested.

"Oh…I feel a little flattered by your recounting of my skills. But sure, no problem." Ruby smiled. Jeena noted that she looked relieved to not have to worry about new partners right now.

"Ok, ok…come on, let's take this out for a test flight!" Rallen prompted to change the topic and was eager to try to new cruiser out.

"Not so fast there!" Ruby pulled the officer back. "It still needs to be calibrated. It just came out today and Jeena just got to it no more than an hour ago. I'm sure she's not quite done yet."

"That's right." Jeena smiled. Ruby sure knew a lot, and it was nice that she could keep an eye on Rallen with her. "Oh, Ruby…who did the tuning for you before? As Rallen's partner, I do all the mechanical and technical things…but you didn't have a set partner, did you?"

"No. I did all the calibrations myself. I can help you. Maybe you can tell me what's been upgraded too."

"Ok, ok…so, the cruiser still needs to be tuned. Can I at least see the cockpit?" Rallen pleaded. The girls laughed.

"Sure! Come on up!"

**Ok…well…let's see how this goes…**

**Read and review? **


	9. Chapter 9: The Beginning of a New Crisis

**If there are any spelling/grammatical/word usage errors, please message me and notify me. Thank you. **

[In the Cruiser…]

Ruby and Jeena sat at the controls, calibrating the system while chatting. The two seemed to get along very well. Rallen impatiently sat in the third spot towards the back, waiting to get his turn at the pilot's seat that Ruby now occupied. When he first sat down at the seat at back, he was just about to tinker with some stuff when Ruby yelled: "Don't touch _anything_ while we calibrate everything! We don't want a repeat of what happened three months ago—" She paused and then corrected herself, in a slightly softer tone now that she noted the awkwardness: "I mean…159 months ago…"

Rallen nearly fell out of the seat at her sudden command, and could do nothing but look at her wide-eyed for the next few moments of silence, save for the tapping on the calibration system by Ruby. Jeena had stopped working and was looking at her with a bemused expression. After a while, Ruby looked up at Jeena and said: "I think I should leave the navigation calibrations to you. I don't know how to do some of the newly added stuff here. They sure did add a lot of upgrades for this in just a little over a decade…"

"Oh, ok…" Jeena slid the screen over from Ruby to herself. "Did you used to do all the navigating by yourself then?"

"Just about. I allowed Rallen to tinker with it once, but it didn't really help me much."

"I wouldn't be surprised. I think that asteroid incident yesterday proves it."

"Hey! I'm still back here, you know!" Rallen protested.

"We know." Both women answered dryly.

"Then please don't –" Rallen's sentence was cut short when there was the sound of a sudden explosion along with vibration. When it stopped, he looked around and asked: "What was _THAT_?"

The transmitter beeped.

"Incoming transmission!" Jeena hit a few controls. The Commander's face flickered on the screen.

"Rallen, Jeena!" A slight pause of surprise was added before he adjusted to the new scene. "Oh, yes, and Ruby."

"Rallen dashed up behind Jeena's seat. "Commander, what's wrong?"

"An explosion was sighted at the outer service bay! We have yet to confirm what happened, but Professor Kate is still up there and appears to be trapped!"

"Is Kate alright?" Ruby immediately demanded. Rallen was also worried, but for another reason:

"The service bay? But Aldous was heading up there to meet Professor Kate in regards to the Ancient Ship!"

"So I was told." Commander Grant nodded. "We do not know if everyone is alright, so I need your team to go and make sure everything is fine! I suspect Krawl involvement though. Rallen, Ruby, I want you two to head over and pick up weapons from Dave, then head straight to the service bay!"

"Yes sir!" The trio nodded. Grant signed off.

"Ok, you two head over and meet Dave." Jeena took the calibration controls into her hands. "I'll have everything tuned up for flight by the time you two get back."

"Alright! Let's hurry!" Rallen sprinted off.

"Thanks Jeena!" Ruby rushed out, a step behind Rallen. Dave knew of the situation and looked for the weapon capsules to install into their combat gear.

"Here you go." Dave promptly selected the three standard weapons and handed them to Rallen, along with his new prizmod. After a quick recap of its new functions, he turned to Ruby.

"Miss Ruby! Here's a blaster and a swords. The mechanisms are still the same, no worries. Now, as to your third weapon, I know gloves don't work well with you, but your previous custom weapon needs a major upgrade." He indicated at the weapon capsule on his work station. "The old materials were good, but in the case of Krawl, it won't do much. I'll have to upgrade the materials in it. You're going to need the special plasma this time, and actual chains wouldn't be a suitable design for that material."

"Do whatever you see fit, Dave. So long as it still works the same way, I'll be fine."

"I'll have it done as soon as possible." He nodded and went off to work on it.

"Ok, all set! Back to the cruiser! I'm worried about the Professor and the old man!" Rallen bolted off again ahead of Ruby. When they got back to the cruiser, Jeena had everything ready to go. Ruby and Rallen both got to the pilot's seat at the same time.

"Oh!" They both flinched back. Ruby stepped back completely. "You're cruiser." She stated and went to the third seat at back. Jeena used to usually have the seat there out of her way so she can go back and forth between the main navigational system and the other system settings/calibrations and database. The back system was also linked to the navigational system, but it wasn't linked to the transmitter.

"Ok, ready when you are!" Ruby nodded at the two in front.

"Ok, Iku ze!" The cruiser lifted off from the docking platform, and once they hit the required minimum in take off height, Rallen promptly accelerated the cruiser. They took off to the service bay in a flash.

**I realize I'm about 200 words short of my usual 1000 word minimum for each chapter, but I'm running out of time today but would really like to get this chapter up. **

**I will actually take a pause in writing. Yes, yes, I know...after leaving this hanging for so long, I'm pausing again? Please understand, this time it's for the plot of the story. I'm trying to finish Origins as fast as possible so I can figure out how to tie in new key elements to this story. I think I'm almost done with the main part of the game…I'm just stuck on Jado right now. Of all the times to put a boss, the put it right before a crucial moment that I need to know for this fanfiction…**

**Read and review, please. **


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